One of the busiest waterways in the world, the Rhine River and its numerous tributaries flow through nine European countries and provide drinking water for 30 million people. When the river flooded in 1993 and 1995 in Germany and the Netherlands, it demonstrated the immense destruction such events can cause. The costs of these disasters will only increase in the future: the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine estimates that an extreme flood could cause € 200 billion worth of damage.

In summer 2003, temperatures soared above 40°C as the hottest weather in 500 years struck Europe, killing more than 20,000 people. Forest fires broke out in many countries; in Portugal alone, fires destroyed forests the size of Luxembourg. According to climate predictions, summers as hot as 2003’s deadly heat wave could occur every other year by 2050.

Europe is home to many different peoples, languages, landscapes, and traditions. Moreover, the Iron Curtain left a stark economic divide between east and west. For example, the average income in Bulgaria is about 12 percent of what it is in the Netherlands. Yet, the continent’s dense cultural and historical diversity enriches life and ultimately provides a uniting thread. Our shared culture of conservation and intensive land cultivation has also spurred a strong drive to protect the environment and its natural resources.

Europe’s energy supply is also diverse. Overall, the poorer regions in southern and eastern Europe tend to have less affordable access to energy, and are home to most of the 54 million people in the EU who cannot keep their home warm in winter. Energy sources vary across the continent, as does the vulnerability to supply disruptions.

To protect our climate, we urgently need to move away from fossil fuels, particularly coal, which is the biggest pollutant. But coal production is still economically significant in some regions of Europe, so for the transition to be both just and politically viable, the people and businesses in these regions need new sources of income and employment — as well as time to adjust and other forms of support during this transformation.

In 2019, the European Union launched its Green Deal: a comprehensive agenda to drive a massive shift towards sustainability. However, in order to win citizens’ trust, this necessary transition must leave no one behind. The EU needs to help create jobs, education, and training, while providing social protection and addressing air pollution and energy poverty.

Alone, the EU’s budget is too small to leverage such a shift. The Green Deal will need strong support from national governments and citizens, including stronger policy incentives and greener public investments. It will also require moving capital from polluting industries into sustainable businesses and technologies.

We will not be able to secure our homes and heritage unless sustainable transformation happens on a global scale. The Green Deal needs to go beyond reducing EU’s own carbon footprint and protecting its environment. With its unique capacities, Europe must help the rest of the world become more sustainable. In turn, this could open up great political, social, and commercial opportunities for the EU and increase its influence internationally.

Beyond Europe, the EU engages in climate diplomacy to support sustainable transitions around the world. The EU’s efforts were pivotal to reaching consensus on the ambitious Paris Agreement, which seeks to align the world’s nations in the fight against dangerous climate change. 

With its Global Strategy released in 2016, the EU systematically integrated climate change into its foreign and security policy. Recognizing that climate change is a threat multiplier, it seeks to prevent and manage conflicts that are exacerbated by environmental changes in a holistic way.

To put this shared vision into practice, the EU has strengthened its efforts to prevent climate-related conflict and to build resilience to climatic changes. For example, its Conflict Early Warning System, which helps identify conflict risks around the world, includes climate change as one of the risk factors it monitors.

As the challenges we face — political instability, famine, forced migration, and violent conflicts — continue to grow, EU climate diplomacy is essential, not only to keep climate action and the Paris commitments on the political agenda, but also to sustain global peace and prosperity.

Cars cause noise, air pollution, and traffic congestion while emitting climate - damaging greenhouse gases. Recognizing that bikes are a better option for city transport, Copenhagen wants to become the best city for cyclists in the world. The city, which has more than 100 public bike sharing stations, has built bike highways and bike bridges, and allows bikes on trains for free. Today, more than 60 percent of Copenhagen’s residents cycle to work or school every day.

After the destructive Rhine floods of 1993 and 1995, Switzerland, Germany, France, Luxemburg, and the Netherlands joined forces to reduce future damage. Today, the countries work together to provide early warning for floods, and they use retention areas and other infrastructure to reduce the peak level of floods and thus avoid the most severe damage. In addition, these countries have considerably increased retention volumes on the upper Rhine, reducing downstream flood risks.

Cities in Poland and Germany are partnering to clean their air and protect the climate. Many residents in the cities of Sztum, Poland, and Ritterhude, Germany, still have old heating systems and poorly insulated houses, leading to high energy bills and cold homes. Together, the two municipalities are developing pilot projects at district level to finance and implement renovations, which increase the well-being of the residents living in upgraded houses. These steps also improve the air quality for all of the town’s citizens while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.